Scoring

Every day this past week I felt a little tinge of guilt that I couldn't find time for a daily journal update. I've decided to go a little easier on myself and just do weekly updates until the Yanni tour resumes.

I finished the orchestral score for Spring Peepers on Friday but still have work to do on Dragonflies. I'll be performing these two pieces with the Chattanooga Symphony next week for their July 3, Pops in the Park concert.

On Wednesday of last week I took a day trip to Black Mountain North Carolina with a few friends who have been helping each other build guitars. We made an appointment to see Jerry Reed Smith's workshop where he builds bowed psalteries and the most beautiful hammer dulcimers I've ever seen. We stopped by Jerry's store, Song of the Wood, for what was to be just a few moments. I ended up playing every hammer dulcimer in the store in an impromptu comparison test. The results, which are strictly my opinion, will appear in an article on this web site after I've played a few more instruments. Dennis's Schreiner bought a bowed psaltery while we were there. You can see a picture of Dennis and his new instrument by clicking the link at the bottom of my pictures page.

We arrived at Jerry's workshop about two hours later than we'd planned. We toured his new studio and performance venue which is still under construction and then went to his workshop where we talked for hours about about hammer dulcimer design and relative issues. I got my name on the list for one of Jerry's custom built instruments. It has a higher range than my D600 so they will compliment each other nicely, especially in the recording studio.

Our conversations veered from hammer dulcimers to music in general, and I learned that Jerry produced the first album of my favorite singer/songwriter, David Wilcox. He also introduced me to the music of another great singer/songwriter, Peter Mayer. I'm hooked already. I should also mention that, in my opinion, Jerry's Strayaway Child hammer dulcimer CD is the best traditional recording - ever. "Best" is a word that I rarely use when talking about music or instruments. It's just that everything about this cd is great. Check it out at the Song of the Wood web site.

On Friday of last week Angie and I went downtown to see my friend Patty Wilbanks perform with Dale Martin at the Rhythm at Noon concert in Miller Plaza. She was excellent as always.

I spent Saturday and Sunday street performing at the Tennessee Aquarium. It was my first time back since the Yanni tour and I wondered if I'd run into anyone who'd seen a concert. The very first people to walk up after I began playing told me they'd seen Yanni in Atlanta and he had a guy playing the same instrument I play. I asked if they remembered his name, and they laughed as they realized it was me. Their names are Mike and Norma, and you can see their picture on the pictures page along with other shots from the Aquarium this past weekend. ¶ 6:40 PM